Legal & General Group Plc lowered its position in shares of Equifax Inc. (NYSE:EFX - Free Report) by 20.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 700,468 shares of the credit services provider's stock after selling 183,955 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc owned 0.57% of Equifax worth $178,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Equifax by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,389,505 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $3,667,165,000 after purchasing an additional 135,009 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Equifax by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,957,204 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $751,645,000 after acquiring an additional 71,543 shares in the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Equifax by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC now owns 1,835,102 shares of the credit services provider's stock valued at $467,676,000 after acquiring an additional 9,702 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its holdings in Equifax by 95.9% during the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 1,617,574 shares of the credit services provider's stock worth $412,239,000 after purchasing an additional 791,730 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Equifax in the fourth quarter valued at about $330,400,000. 96.20% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Equifax Price Performance
Shares of NYSE EFX traded up $0.76 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $225.08. 148,064 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,108,044. Equifax Inc. has a 1-year low of $199.98 and a 1-year high of $309.63. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $239.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $256.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 0.88 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market cap of $28.09 billion, a PE ratio of 46.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 1.65.
Equifax (NYSE:EFX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The credit services provider reported $2.12 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $2.12. Equifax had a return on equity of 19.13% and a net margin of 10.63%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Equifax Inc. will post 7.58 EPS for the current year.
Equifax Dividend Announcement
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, March 14th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 21st were given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 21st. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Equifax's dividend payout ratio is presently 32.30%.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several equities research analysts have commented on EFX shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Equifax from $340.00 to $300.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Equifax from $284.00 to $281.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 7th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on shares of Equifax from $335.00 to $310.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 7th. Gordon Haskett upgraded Equifax to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, February 18th. Finally, BNP Paribas lowered Equifax from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $265.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, March 14th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equifax has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $292.31.
Read Our Latest Analysis on EFX
Equifax Profile
(
Free Report)
Equifax Inc operates as a data, analytics, and technology company. The company operates through three segments: Workforce Solutions, U.S. Information Solutions (USIS), and International. The Workforce Solutions segment offers services that enables customers to verify income, employment, educational history, criminal justice data, healthcare professional licensure, and sanctions of people in the United States; and employer customers with services that assist them in complying with and automating payroll-related and human resource management processes throughout the entire cycle of the employment relationship.
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